ASTON MARTIN VALKYRIE

From 3 to 31 March, the Louwman Museum presents one of the most extreme road-legal cars ever built: the Aston Martin Valkyrie, designed by Adrian Newey, Formula 1’s most successful designer.

The Valkyrie was Newey’s long-held dream: to create a road car that brings the uncompromising principles of Formula 1 to the public road. After six years of development, the result is one of the most advanced hypercars of our time. Its futuristic design is entirely shaped by airflow, maximum downforce and ultimate performance. Aerodynamically, the car produces up to 1,100 kg of downforce at 150 km/h.

It is powered by a Cosworth-developed 6.5-litre V12 engine that revs to 11,100 rpm and delivers 1,156 hp. Even at idle, the engine runs at 2,850 rpm and produces 98 dB(A). Top speed is 354 km/h, while 0–100 km/h takes just 2.6 seconds.

The Valkyrie’s extreme character goes beyond the engine: the seat is built into the monocoque and cannot be adjusted, the windscreen washer reservoir holds just one litre, and buyers could even order a complete spare body and a second powertrain as options. On the earliest models, exhaust temperatures were so high that the rear number plate could deform.

Only 150 examples were built worldwide, with just three known in the Netherlands. Its exclusivity is further underlined by the fact that Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso both own a Valkyrie.